Hewin found Shenian sitting on a moss-covered stone in the forest. She had her head in her hands and cried quietly. Hewin approached her and rubbed her shoulder gently. Immediately, she raised her head and stared daggers at Hewin.

That look is terrifying, Hewin hesitated. Why is there so much anger mixed with her sorrow, I don't know what I did to her...I don't understand, Hewin's thoughts were spinning. Shenian began to sob again and Hewin saw a piece of folded paper in her hands with her name on it.

Oh no, Hewin realized, please no.

"The boy that we...," Hewin tried to choose the words carefully, "that came to the mill yesterday. Was he your..." But Hewin didn't need to finish the sentence as Shenian burst into tears and nodded.

"You killed him, my Torvin," she whispered.

Hewin kneeled before her: "I am so sorry, Shenian. There was nothing we could do."

"You could have spared him, or ...or...capture him!" Shenian insisted

Hewin looked directly into her eyes: "Do you remember in what state the body of my dad was? The same thing that killed my parents was inside your Torvin. Yesterday, they nearly killed both me and your father. We could only defend ourselves. Please do not forsake us for it. It was not Torvin by the end anyway."

"But I loved him," Shenian asked helplessly.

"I think..I think that is good, Shen. It means that he knew love before his end. And based on stories I heard in that terrible mine, I believe you gave Torvin the greatest thing there is in life," Hewin said more confidently than he felt inside.

Shenian looked at him again. Hewin saw the anger dissipate in her eyes but the sorrow remained. Finally, she spoke quietly: "I will not forsake you. But leave me alone for a while, please."

***

Hewin, Falyar, and Shenian spent the next night on an old maple tree. They had a good view from there of the house and the mill and were concealed by the broad maple leaves. Falyar decided that this was the safest option for the time being in case any new attackers should appear.

Hewin stretched carefully his arm, his shoulder already felt better. He was tired and he knew it would not be a problem for him to fall asleep. Humans would probably fall down and broke their legs but for a Lynxarian, napping on a tree was a very natural thing to do. But Hewin was too curious to sleep. And he guessed that was the case for Falyar as well. Only Shenian still didn't talk much and was sleeping higher on the tree, her bow hanging next to her.

Please don't hate me Shenian when you wake up, I am drowning too, Hewin thought.

It did not take long before Falyar hissed at Hewin and pointed with his paw. A figure emerged below them. It was a sturdy man with broad shoulders. He wore a leather apron and held a cleaver in his hand. He moved in the typical puppet-like manner. Hewin and Falyar stilled themselves but the man didn't pay any attention to the tree and moved towards the house. Then Hewin saw something near the mill as well. It was another human. This one carried an ax and jerkily approached the wooden door.

"I know him," Falyar whispered. "It's Harken, he is a woodcutter from Varnutum. Or at least was, I don't know how this works yet."

Then, at the same moment, the man with the cleaver started to hack into the door to Falyar's house and Harken started to do the same in front of the mill.

"Bastards," Falyar muttered.

Shenian was awake. The sound of wood being hacked probably took her sleep away. She was almost invisible to Hewin with her black fur, only her glowing eyes revealed her whereabouts.

Hewin's ears twitched as he heard more rustling below. From the forest, other people carrying weapons emerged. Women, men, and children, almost a dozen of them walked nearby. They were looking around tilting their heads awkwardly.

Falyar covered his mouth with his paw in disbelief but he did not dare to whisper anymore.

The doors to the house and the mill soon collapsed and the invaders poured in. Sounds of shattering furniture, breaking glass, and trashing visibly tormented Falyar and Shenian. When the people walked out of the buildings again, Hewin noticed that they all had those pitch-black eyes. After that, they just stood there in silence looking around like owls for hours.

Approximately three hours after their coming, Falyar couldn't stay awake and rested his head on his branch. But Hewin didn't dare to rest and watched the people closely.

But they were almost motionless and Hewin's eyelids began to feel heavy. He looked at the stars. Please help me, my friends, he thought to the stars. As if in response, the starlight began to fade and the night sky became a shade lighter. Far away, Hewin was able to see the first hints of sunrise.

The man with the cleaver shifted as if uncomfortable and shouted: "Æwer!"

In synchronized motion, the intruders turned and started to walk away in one direction.

The sun, Hewin translated in his mind, they are afraid of it!

The "dark puppets", as Hewin started to think of them, almost disappeared into the forest. Only Harken was slower than the rest, probably because of the heavy ax that he was dragging.

Harken walked directly below them and passed their tree.

Hewin sighed in relief. Then Falyar snored loudly.

Falyar jumped up on the branch and caught his own mouth immediately.

But it was too late. Harken turned back on the spot and returned to the tree.

"Æwer!" sounded from the forest.

But Harken raised the ax and replied: "Omnamútad wam!"

I can kill them, Hewin understood and his heart started to pound.

Harken swung the ax and incredibly, his weapon cut deeply all the way to the center of the trunk. The tree shook, leaves fluttering as if scared for their life.

The woodcutter raised his arms again for a final cut. After a loud swish, his ax fell to the ground. A feathered arrow stuck out of Harken's eye and he slowly collapsed.

Hewin looked up and saw Shenian holding her bow. Her eyes reflected so many emotions, many of them in mutual conflict, but Hewin understood for he felt much the same the last days. He nodded to her.

"Oh my daughter, you were brilliant. I almost killed you both," Falyar despaired.

Soon, the meadow below, as well as the tree, and Falyar's house were bathing in sunlight.

***

Hewin and Shenian were supposed to pack backpacks for a life on the move. In the meantime, Falyar disappeared with Harken's body. First, Hewin assumed that he went to bury him but when he saw Falyar taking a big knife, apron, and a set of long leather gloves with him, he doubted that was the case.

Shenian was carrying food outside and divided it into piles based on perishability. Hewin was folding blankets when Falyar finally emerged from the basement. His apron was covered in black goo and so were the gloves.

Falyar took the gloves down and threw them in the fire.

"Well, one thing is certain. The human part of the people with black eyes is dead. Whatever we are seeing attacking us each night, they are dead shells with organs shattered and their hearts missing completely. Instead, they have something like a black core from which blackish branches extend to the limbs and the head. That is probably why they are moving so unnaturally," Falyar concluded and took a big sip from the whiskey bottle.

"I don't want to see anything like that ever again," he spat on the ground.

Shenian breathed out anxiously and Hewin knew she thought about Torvin again.

"We will sleep each night in a different place from now on, that should confuse them," Falyar said.

Hewin shook his head: "Maybe I should leave you. Something is happening to me and maybe, they are after me. I brought you enough harm already."

"Don't be so self-centered, boy," Falyar replied. "They killed your parents, your friend, but it looks like the whole Varnutum could be dead. Something world-changing could be happening and since each of us three already saved someone's life, we should stick together and keep doing that."

Hewin nodded, thoughtful. Then he said: "I think we need to go to Varnutum at some point," he looked at Shenian and continued: "Maybe we can find somebody still living there, or at least we can warn other cities."

Shenian said quickly: "I agree, please dad, we can't just run."

Falyar touched his whiskers and his brows furrowed: "I know, I know, kids. But you must grow up very quickly now if we want to make a mark. We will practice fighting each day, and Hewin, you must try to find out more about your powers. As I said, stars are powerful."